Mother's Day
by PrincessOfDestiny18
Summary: Ash is excited when he's home in time for Mother's Day, however, his excitement is soon cut short when he realizes he's fighting for his mother's affections.


**Hello! I wrote this a year ago, but I wasn't very sure of it. It's Mother's Day today in the UK, and I wrote it for LAST Mother's Day, haha. Anyway, I decided even if I'm not 100% on it, I may as well post it. Happy Mother's Day everyone, whether you are in the UK or otherwise!**

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Ash Ketchum took a deep inhale of breath, his eyes shut lightly, taking in the familiar scent of his hometown. He was stood at the top of the hill that overlooked the quiet town of Pallet, looking over the few, sporadic houses around the fielded area. He loved the feeling that overtook him every time he returned to this spot after a long journey; it was almost surreal for a few moments, as if he was simply looking over the peaceful settlement on a cloud, not that he was really home.

"It's always nice coming back to Pallet Town isn't it, Pikachu?" he said, looking at the electric mouse on his shoulder.

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu responded happily, raising its little arm in the air.

At that, Ash could no longer wait. He charged down the hill at the pace of a rampant Tauros, grabbing a handful of daisies on his way down. He was home in time for Mother's Day, the very day it was today, which he was completely elated about; normally all his mother received from him was a phone call. Today, she got to see her son in the flesh.

As Ash reached the front door of his house, gasping for breath, he was about to open the door excitedly when he saw a familiar looking bike parked in the porch, leaning against the house. Ash furrowed his brow, not convinced by his own suspicions. Shrugging it off, he opened the door and called out to his mother that he was home. She appeared from the kitchen, a huge grin on her face, her hands in rubber gloves that were dripping with soapy water.

"Oh, Ash! This is such a wonderful surprise!" she cried happily, throwing off the rubber gloves in excitement and giving her son a bone-crushing hug. "Oh and hi, Pikachu!" she said, noticing the mouse for the first time.

"Pikachu!" it said, smiling happily at her from the floor; he'd managed to successfully jump from Ash's shoulder before he was crushed.

"Happy Mother's Day, Mom," Ash stammered, barely able to breathe through the constrain of his ribs. His mother pulled away and he handed her the daisies that were dangling in his left hand, then reached into his bag for the card he'd picked up on the way.

"Ash, this is so lovely, thank you!" Delia said, genuinely thrilled. She placed the card on the mantelpiece then disappeared to the kitchen to find a vase for the daisies. As Ash looked to where she placed his card, his brow furrowed again. Next to his card was another card, also saying 'Happy Mother's Day,' upon it, with a pattern of Butterfree as decoration. Being an only child, Ash couldn't understand who would have sent the mysterious second card. Delia reappeared, vase full of Ash's daisies in hand, and placed them on the coffee table in front of the fireplace, next to a rather impressive bouquet of lilies.

"Hey, Mom," Ash said, still staring at the card. "Who got you the other card?"

Delia smiled softly. "Oh, it's from Misty, isn't that nice? She got me that card and these flowers next to yours."

Ash's heart sunk when he saw the bouquet; they put his pathetic little daisies to shame.

"So it _is_ Misty's bike outside?" Ash queried, now looking at his mother. "But where is she?"

"She's upstairs, taking a bath." Delia explained. "Poor thing was so excited to bring me my flowers she fell off her bike. She's okay, just a bit muddy. She'll be very happy to see you I'm sure!"

"Right, yeah," Ash mumbled, still feeling a little disconcerted by Misty's impressive gift efforts. He just didn't quite understand her reasoning behind it, but his mother seemed very happy with her gesture.

"Ash?" a familiar voice came from upstairs.

"Pikachupi!" Pikachu exclaimed happily, rushing up the stairs to jump into her arms. She giggled happily as she cuddled the yellow Pokémon. She walked downstairs, still cradling Pikachu, in order to greet its trainer.

"Hey, Ash, it's great to see you! I wasn't expecting you home," Misty said, smiling at him as she scratched Pikachu's ears. Ash was a little flustered, which he attributed to still being perplexed by Misty buying his mom a card and flowers. It _definitely _wasn't the fact that Misty's hair was tied back in a messy yet pretty bun with two auburn strands falling at either side of her face, making her look radiant. Her pale skin was still slightly damp from her bath (having heard Ash's voice, she'd frantically thrown on her clothes to go see him) and sparkled softly in the sunlight. Her face, as usual, was make-up less, her cerulean eyes bright as she looked at him. She was wearing a light blue summer dress that matched her eyes, ending just above her knees, highlighting her lovely, slender yet toned legs. She certainly wasn't the scrawny girl Ash had met four years ago.

"H-hey, Mist," Ash finally stammered out, his Pikachu giving him a knowing look from Misty's arms.

"Oh it's so nice you two can see each other again," Delia smiled. Misty's eyes dropped the floor and she blushed. "I'll make us all some lunch."

"I'll help you," Misty said. "It's the least I can do to thank you for letting me stay."

"No," Ash cut across her, in both words and in physical sense as he stepped in front of her. "I'll help. She's _my _mom, after all."

His words shot through Misty's heart like an arrow of ice. She physically stiffened, almost like she'd been frozen, and Pikachu sensed her grip around his middle tighten, causing him to look at her sympathetically.

"Okay," she murmured. Ash's anger fell at this, surprised that Misty hadn't started an argument with him. "Excuse me; I'm gonna go sort my hair."

At this, she allowed her arms to open so Pikachu could jump from them to the floor, then wordlessly she ascended the staircase quickly, desperate to escape from the scene.

"Pikachupi," Pikachu said sadly, his ears drooping.

Ash turned to look at his mother, inquisitively, and was met with her stern expression and folded arms.

"Oh, Ash, how could you be so insensitive?" Delia sighed.

"Me?" Ash cried, defiantly.

Delia let out another sigh, and gestured to the couch next to them.

"We need to talk about something."

Ash said nothing, but obediently sat on the sofa beside his mother.

"Ash, Misty never really had a set of parents," she said, placing her hand on her son's shoulder. "They died when she was very young in a car accident."

This was news to Ash. He knew she'd been orphaned at a young age, but he'd never known the details; she didn't really like to discuss it. Ash felt his heart become engulfed with guilt.

"Misty comes around here a lot. I think she's quite lonely at the Gym; Daisy's the only sister that bothered returning, and she spends most of her time with Tracey."

Ash nodded, keeping his focus on the table in front of him, his eyes glazed with regret already.

"She misses you a lot," Delia murmured. "Whenever she's here she asks if I've heard from you, or to hear stories about you or photos from when you were younger... You're very special to her, Ash, I don't know if you realise the extent of it yet, but I hope one day you will."

Ash looked at his mother, his eyes drowning with curiosity and mild ignorance. "What do you mean?"

Delia gave him a soft smile. "She told me she felt very lonely before she met you; she had no friends back home, her sisters bullied her and she felt like the world wasn't a very nice place. You changed that for her. You showed her that people do care about her, and that she isn't just a waste of space."

Ash's gaze softened. "How do you know that?"

"She told me," Delia said. "I think she's grateful to have me around, as I am for her. We both miss you so much when you're gone, Ash. Plus, I think this is the first time she has a female in her life she feels she can talk to about anything."

Ash sighed. "I guess you're the closest thing to a mom she's ever had, right?"

Delia gave her son a sad smile. "I think so, yes."

Ash sighed again, this time much more heavily. "Well, I feel like a first-class jerk."

"You did over-react a bit," Delia admitted. "But I understand. You're an only child and suddenly you feel someone's come in and threatened our dynamic. Misty may be like a daughter to me, but that doesn't change the fact you're my son, and I love you more than anything in the world."

Ash smiled, lightly but genuinely, at his mother, enveloping her in a hug. "Thanks Mom. I think I'll go apologise to Mist."

Delia gave her approval of his idea, and he bounded up the stairs in search for his red-headed friend, his mother watching in his wake.

Ash braced himself, taking a deep breath before he knocked gingerly on the door. He expected a roar that would rival a Gyarados', but instead, all he heard was a timid question of who knocked. Ash walked into his old room. It looked basically identical to how he left it, bar the crying red-head that was in his bed, facing the wall so he couldn't see her tears.

"Mist?" he said softly. "I'm really sorry."

"It's fine," Misty murmured. "Can you just leave me alone please?"

Ash suddenly wished she was screaming at him in her normal fit of rage; this was just killing him. She was tugging on his heartstrings so strongly he feared they may snap.

"It's not fine," Ash said firmly. "I was a real jerk back there, and I'm so sorry."

Misty rolled over to face him. Her hair was down now, just reaching her shoulders. Ash took a moment to note how naturally pretty she was, even though her bloodshot eyes made his heart sink.

"I wasn't trying to steal your mom," Misty murmured. "She's just done a lot for me since you left, so I just wanted to thank her for that."

"I know," Ash nodded. After a moment of heavy silence, Ash said. "Can I join you up there?"

"Sure. It's _your _bed after all," Misty muttered, rolling over again so she was facing the wall once more, in turn allowing him room to climb into the bed. Ash sighed as he descended the ladder to his bunk bed, and then laid down next to her, staring at the back of her head intently. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Ash murmured.

"You never really knew your parents, did you?"

Misty said nothing, still staring at the wall, her face one of anguish.

"I can't even imagine how you must feel," Ash continued after a moment. "I don't see my dad very much and I miss him a lot, but it's not like he's gone forever. You're a really strong person, Mist."

Again, Misty said nothing. To Ash, it didn't matter too much, as he just carried on speaking.

"I miss you a lot too, you know," he murmured in her ear. "More than anyone."

He felt himself blush at the confession, despite himself.

"I miss you too," Misty whispered, still not facing him. Ash smiled, happy that their relationship had managed to develop to a point where they could confess to things like this, rather than just scream at each other and avoid admitting their affections.

"I'm really glad you come to visit my mom so much," Ash said, thoughtfully. "I worry about her getting lonely sometimes, and it's nice to know you've got someone that you can talk to."

"I like your mom," Misty said. "You're very lucky to have her as a parent, Ash."

Ash's smile dropped; Misty's tone was laced with upset, despite her attempts to conceal it. He'd never seen Misty this vulnerable before.

"She'll be your mom someday too, you know?" Ash said, wistfully.

Misty finally turned around to face her raven-haired friend, a look of confusion on her pretty face.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?" Misty asked, wondering if Ash's child-like logic was at play once again.

Ash smiled at her. "You know, when we get married!"

He said it as though the answer were obvious. Misty's eyes widened at his words, bemusement and happiness overcoming her at the same time. "What?" Ash asked, failing to comprehend her mystification.

Misty chuckled. "What do you mean, 'what?' Since when are we getting married?"

"Well, not _yet_," Ash explained. "Fourteen is too young. I don't know, when we're like, twenty or something. Whenever you think is best; you're better at all that romance junk than me."

Misty ignored his dismissive nature of one of her greatest loves in life, romance, and raised her eyebrows at him. "I meant, since when are _you and I _getting married, you know, at all?"

Ash responded by raising his own eyebrows. "Isn't it obvious? I told you when you left, our meeting wasn't coincidence; it was fate!"

"You said we were meant to meet and become _friends,_ not husband and wife," Misty said, slight amusement playing on her words, her cheeks flushed.

"Well yeah, not straight away, plus if I said that in front of Brock he'd tease us for life," Ash said, to which Misty agreed. Ash sighed, his tone becoming serious. "I don't know, Mist. To be honest, I only really properly thought about it a few months ago. Me, May, Max and Brock were in a forest, sat around a campfire talking about the future. I'd never really thought about the future before, apart from being a Pokémon Master of course," at this, Misty rolled her eyes playfully. "So May asked me if I'd ever thought about when I want to get married, how many kids I want, stuff like that. I hadn't, so I did, and every time... Well, you were always my wife."

Misty wasn't entirely sure on how to react to the revelation. Ash showed barely any sign of embarrassment, apart from a faint blush, but Misty was sure her face was as red as a Magmar. Her silence spurred Ash to continue.

"At first, it really confused me, so I asked Brock about it and he just gave me this weird, creepy smile and said I'd work it out someday, May squealed so loudly that it hurt my ears, and Max just called me dense."

Misty giggled as Ash scowled at his final statement. "Are you still confused?"

Ash smiled at her, lovingly. "Not really. It makes sense, really; everyone thought we were a couple, even Team Rocket!"

Feeling a jab of upset hit her in her heart, Misty's smiled dropped. "Oh, so that's all it was..?" she said, her voice trying desperately to feign a flippant attitude.

"No," Ash said. "I just mean that everyone saw it, so it must be right. Plus, we were like our own little family already, in a way. Togepi, sorry, _Togetic_ saw you as its mother, Pikachu as its big brother, so that makes me its dad, right?"

Misty smiled softly. "Yeah, I guess so."

"So, we can do that again in the future... Just with human kids," Ash said, beaming. A realisation suddenly dawned on him. "You are okay with this right? I don't wanna be like Rudy, trying to force you into something," he said, anger rising as he spoke. Misty's giggle caused his irritation to evaporate. She pulled the boy into a tight hug, then murmured against his shoulder.

"You have no idea."

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**A/N: I know, I know. It's cheesy, it's fluffy, I'm sorry. Anyway, I hope you liked it! :)**


End file.
